It is time once again to give an update on what I have been working on in the sewing room during the first three months of this year. While I am fairly pleased with my progress there are still days when I would like to accomplish more. The recovery from my surgery in June has still been a bit of a challenge as my back does not allow me to do all that I would like to do. But I’m much further along than I was at the beginning of the year so I really can’t complain too much.
Of the nine projects on my 2022 to-do list I was able to finish one and made significant progress on two others. I also added two new projects - one of those I finished - and found another one to add to my bucket list. As a result my actual progress may have been a bit of a wash! I also completed 15 customer quilts and eight Quilts of Valor - one of those was for my Forest Acres Quilting Club and seven were for others.
The to-do list project that I finished was the Super Secret project that I made for Baby Z. (We can now call him Henry Thomas Zientarski instead of Baby Z since he arrived 3 1/2 weeks early on April 2nd!!) This is such a special quilt since Henry’s mom, Melissa, made 10 1/2 of the log cabin blocks when she was about 10 years old. I tried several times over the years to get her to finish this quilt but she was just not interested. I finished the blocks with the fabric that I had kept so that there were 12 total and then added three borders to make it a 34” x 39” baby quilt. Now our baby Henry uses it for tummy time.
The project that I added and completed was a fabric garland that Sara asked me to make for Ruby’s first birthday in March. She found the idea on Pinterest from a website called greyhouseharbor.com. I had plenty of red, blue, green, and yellow fabrics that I used from my stash to go along with the Sesame Street theme for her party. We taped it to her high chair and it was so festive!
One of the two projects on which I made progress was the wall quilt for Henry’s nursery. The quilt top consists of 30 paper-pieced blocks centered around a bookcase and Harry Potter theme. My favorite blocks include Harry’s glasses, his thunderbolt scar, Hedwig the owl, and Trevor the frog. There is also a block that characterizes Bertie Bott’s Candy Store and I was able to find fabric that looks like his Every Flavor Beans. Each block took 1-2 hours to complete and I was sad when it was finished as it was so much fun to work on. The top is complete, the batting and backing are ready, and it all just needs to be loaded onto the long arm.
I also made progress on Ruby’s counted cross-stitch Christmas stocking. It is about half done. I was hoping to be a little further along as I also plan to do one for Henry. I guess if I don’t get his done then he will have to use the boyfriend stocking like Ruby did last year. I usually work on this kind of project in the evenings while we are watching TV. March Madness sure provided a lot of stitching time. Now I’m looking forward to nicer weather so that I can stitch on the patio.
Another new project that I added was an advent calendar. I have made two of these and they are so much fun to have during the Christmas holiday. I have one that I hang on our front door and I gave the other one to Sara for Ruby. Now I need to make one for Henry but I had such a hard time finding one that I liked. Many of them have pockets that are intended for little toys or candy in the days leading up to Christmas. The other two that I made have little ornaments to hang on the quilt and I like that idea better. I finally found one on the Missouri Star Quilting Company website and was able to order it. I hope to work on this project after I finish the Harry Potter quilt.
My new bucket list quilt is called Swoon and was designed by Camille Roskelley. I heard about this quilt when I was listening to Sherri McConnell and Chelsi Stratton on A Quilting Life podcast. The original quilt consists of nine 24” blocks that stitch into an 80”x80” quilt. Another option is called Swoon Sixteen - sixteen 16” blocks for a 74”x74” quilt. The block is so interesting and unusual. Since these are fat quarter friendly patterns I think it would be fun to make this quilt with a fat quarter bundle of fabrics designed by Sherri and Chelsi for Moda Fabrics.
After reflecting on my progress during the first quarter of this year I am reminded that there are so many patterns and so little time!! What projects have been on your to-do list this year? Have you finished any of them or have you just added more like me?
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